Born and bought up in Vancouver’s Japantown, I aspired to join the Japanese Army as Kagoshima Prefecture had produced famous soldiers and my dad had served in the Russo-Japanese War, but in my late teens, when I discovered the atrocities committed against Chinese civilians, I decided to join the Canadian Army. However, I wasn't accepted in Vancouver, so I moved on to Moose Jaw, riding the box cars. When fellow hobos broke into an empty passenger coach, we were all arrested and charged. Instead of paying a fine, I chose to be jailed for seven days.
The GVJCCA will once again be participating in the Powell Street Festival on July 30 and August 1, 2010 at the newly renovated Oppenheimer Park, Vancouver. The GVJCCA through The Bulletin will again be providing the program guide for everyone attending the festival. The Powell Street Festival is the largest event of its kind in Canada and has over the past three decades provided a wonderful blend of Japanese Canadian arts, culture, and heritage. We hope to see you all there again this year.
Divide bean paste into 24 portions.
Mix mochiko, sugar and water to make a smooth dough, start with 3/4 cup water, increase amount if necessary for a pliable dough.
Lightly grease a flat surface, Knead dough on flat surface until smooth.
Shape dough into a long roll about 1 inch in diameter.
Chop the roll into 24 pieces with a cleaver.
Flatten each piece into a 2 inch circle. Place the piece in your palm and place a bean paste portion in the centre.
Gather the edges around the filling. Roll into a ball. Repeat to make 24 balls.
As a Japanese Canadian Mormon, I was always conscious of being a minority within a minority and, therefore, I was always a little different. As a Mormon, I was different from many of the other Japanese within the community, as most of them attended the Buddhist Church. As a Japanese Canadian, I was one of only a small group within the Mormon Church. However, it was something that I got used to and was able to bridge a number of different cultural, ethnic and religious divides.
A virtuoso visual stylist, Kurosawa is popularly associated with the jidai-geki (period film), and in particular the chanbara (sword-fight film) or samurai drama. Although Kurosawa was, indisputably, a master of action cinema — his films elevate the sword-swinging samurai genre formula into the highest cinematic art — he was very much a master as well of the gendai-geki, the contemporary drama.
In Robert and Jane Nimi’s hallway there is a photo hanging on the wall depicting three smiling young men clad in black leather motorcycle jackets astride Triumph Thunderbird motorcyles. Taped next to the photo is a clipping of Marlon Brando riding the same motorcycle in the classic film The Wild One. As Bob leads me through to the living room for our interview, he stops and points out himself on the far right of the photograph. Just after graduating high school, he explains, he and two high school buddies set off on a three-week road trip to San Diego, camping along the way. It was, he says, one of the highlights of his younger years. While the photograph stands in contrast to the elegance of the house, it does tell you something about Bob Nimi and the sense of determination that has served him well during his lifetime.
I know I’ve been over this territory before on these pages, but it never hurts to revisit some things, such as the idea that real heroes are found, not in the sports section or on Entertainment Tonight but under our own noses.
Cucumber prices are coming down, so I’ll share a few
of my tsukemono recipes.
CUCUMBER TSUKEMONO
4 to 6 cucumbers
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup rock salt
